Through the Eyes of a Child
by Tracy Diane Miller
Summary: A very short story based on the Laundromat scene in "Fatal


Through the Eyes of a Child  
  
Summary: A very short story based on the Laundromat scene in "Fatal  
  
Edition".  
  
Disclaimer: Early Edition characters belong to their creators. No  
  
copyright infringement intended. No profit is being made.  
  
Author's Notes: What can I say? It's "Fatal Edition".I have tons of  
  
unwritten stories prowling around my brain based on my favorite Early  
  
Edition episode g.  
  
Author: Tracy Diane Miller  
  
E-mail address: tdmiller82@hotmail.com  
Through the Eyes of a Child  
  
November 3, 1999: It was cold. It's supposed to be cold in  
  
November. And Chicago had longed been dubbed the Windy City. Not  
  
really sure who initially coined that phrase, but it's true.  
  
Especially today.  
  
Sometimes you have to wonder whether kids actually feel the cold.  
  
Very concerned and meticulous parents carefully bundle up their  
  
little ones in winter finery; almost like mummies are they completely  
  
wrapped up as they leave their homes for school, children in a  
  
rainbow of different color hats, coats, and gloves peeking out from  
  
the windows of school buses throughout the city. However, once the  
  
call to recess is sounded, energetic children shed the oppressive  
  
layers of clothes like warriors discarding unnecessary armor.  
  
These "shields of winter protection" blanket the school yard even  
  
though Nature has her own way of providing for the Earth's comfort in  
  
frigid temperatures.  
  
If the parents only knew.  
  
The little boy and his little sister were happy that they didn't have  
  
school today. Their teachers were scheduled for an "in service"  
  
day. Teachers used that occasion to catch up on some of the more  
  
mundane tasks of educational preparation (i.e. grading papers,  
  
reviewing and completing progress reports, and planning curriculum)  
  
without the demands of classroom instruction. It's quiet time of  
  
sorts for teachers. Some relish the prospect. But for kids, it's a  
  
day off from school without being sick!  
  
And as luck would have it, Mom also had a day off from work. Okay,  
  
so it wasn't luck, really; she had planned the time off to coincide  
  
with the children's schedules. Mom had promised to take them out for  
  
ice cream, but only if they behaved themselves while she took them on  
  
some of her chores. First on the agenda was grocery shopping. That  
  
wasn't so bad. Mom was quick and the stores weren't very crowded.  
  
But then, Mom said that she had to go to the Laundromat. Doing  
  
laundry was bad. Long and boring.  
  
The little boy and his sister tried to think of a way to entertain  
  
themselves while Mom worked on the laundry. A game of tag offered  
  
the easiest solution.  
  
A man was talking on the pay phone. He had his back towards the  
  
children. Tag is always more fun when you have more people playing  
  
the game. Besides, the little boy was getting tired of being "it"  
  
(who would have thought that his little sister would be so good with  
  
this game?)  
  
The man felt a jab and instinctively jumped from the unexpected  
  
touch. He turned around to confront the source.  
  
"Got ya. You're it". The little boy said triumphantly.  
  
The man seemed confused. Maybe he didn't know how to play this game  
  
after all.  
  
Mom was angry. She yelled at the little boy and his sister, telling  
  
them to sit down and be quiet or they wouldn't get any ice cream.  
  
Defeated, the children walked towards the chairs and sat down.  
  
The man started to slowly walk towards them. Just then, there was a  
  
special report on the television. The man stopped to look at the  
  
screen. While the other patrons seemed oblivious to the news and  
  
were focused on their laundry, the man and the little boy's eyes were  
  
glued to the television. A newscaster spoke of an escaped killer who  
  
had jumped out of a courthouse window before his arraignment. The  
  
news report revealed that the escaped killer's name was Gary Hobson.  
  
His mug shot was flashed across the screen.  
  
Gary's eyes locked with the eyes of the child. The little boy tried  
  
to warn his mother, but she scolded him further and threatened him  
  
that he wouldn't get his ice cream.  
  
The little boy tried desperately to convince his mother to listen to  
  
him. But the man quickly grabbed a jacket and hat and disappeared  
  
from view.  
  
Funny thing is, through the eyes of a child, this child, the man  
  
before him was a killer. But sadly, what the child didn't know was  
  
that he had just gazed into the eyes of a gentle soul.  
  
A hero.  
The End. 


End file.
